The Time Which Stopped That Day
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Gakuen Alice .
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Mikan stared at him and he stared back.
"W-who are you?" she stammered, trying to ignore the tingly feeling she received when their eyes met.
"You don't need to know that," he stated coldly before turning his back to her and walking out of the corridor. Mikan was slightly taken back. She frowned then shrugged the rejection off. She put on her poker face and walked out of the special star dorm. She was ashamed of herself for letting emotion affect her actions.
The dining hall was noisy. There was no other word that could describe it. Mikan was used to the calm and quiet in her makeshift home, not the screaming and shouting in the dining hall. Choosing a seat near the edge of the hall, she sat down and tried to tune out the noise.
"Mikan-sama?" a robot chirped. Mikan nodded warily. "Mikan-sama, your dinner will be served in a few minutes, we are sorry for the wait," the robot continued before marching off.
"Mikan-chan?" a voice asked. Mikan sighed and slowly turned her head to where the sound came from. She was annoyed; too many people were talking to her. Sitting beside her, were two girls, one with straight black hair and the other with curly pink hair, which was tied up in a ponytail.
"Do you remember us?" the girl with black hair asked hopefully. Mikan frowned; the feeling of recognition was plaguing her again, yet the name still wouldn't surface.
"Do you remember us?" the pink haired girl echoed.
"Sorry, but I do not know any of you and I don't care, now would you mind leaving me alone to eat?" Mikan snapped. She could tell, by the faces of Anna and Nonoko, that she had hurt them, but Mikan couldn't care less, as it wasn't really her fault. They silently slipped out of the seats beside Mikan and returned to wherever they had come from.
There was now an awkward atmosphere around her. Mikan stared hard at the table, urging the robot to hurry up and come back with her dinner.
"U-Um…Sakura-san?" someone timidly stammered.
"WHAT!" Mikan shouted in frustration. Her voice echoed through the hall. Everyone in the dining hall had stopped talking and all eyes were on her. Her face burned. Looking down, Mikan abruptly stood up, causing the chair to fall, and ran out of the hall.
Once she reached her room, Mikan immediately flung herself onto her bed and buried herself in pillows. She wondered why she was getting so frustrated, she had never experienced frustration when she was with ESP. Mikan lay like that for a while, before she found it was too hard to breathe. Because of that, she pushed the pillows off of her face and deeply breathed in the night air. The room was dark. She couldn't see anything, not even herself. It felt like her dream, the dream she had every night, the one about darkness. A cool breeze lifted her curtains, sending pieces of paper flying around her room. Mikan sighed and sat up. She collected the scattered pieces of paper and placed them in a neat stack on her table. She walked to the window and clambered onto the windowsill. Sitting on the windowsill, Mikan gazed at the night sky and let the wind ruffle her short hair. The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed around in a pitch-black sea. The moon was bright, it sent its ribbons of light everywhere. Everywhere, except Mikan's room.
The loud birds raucously crying in the morning aroused Mikan. She squinted her eyes, unaccustomed to the bright light, and looked around the room for her uniform. Today was her first day of school.
"Hm…Where is it…? Ah! Found it!" she mumbled to herself. Soon enough, she was fully dressed in her new uniform and ready to go. Before leaving the room, she grabbed a brush and hurriedly combed her hair. Little strands were still sticking up, but she didn't have the time to worry about them now, she was going to be late for class.
Mikan hurried down long corridors of classrooms, looking for her classroom. Finally, she found it. Mikan rapidly pulled the sliding door open and rushed into the classroom.
"-and this is Sakura Mikan.." a teacher said as Mikan stepped into the room. Her classmates didn't stare at her as she had expected, instead, they avoided her gaze and fidgeted. "Now, Mikan-chan, there's no need for introductions, as they all know you, only you don't know them…" the teacher said. Mikan frowned; she didn't like being the one who didn't know. "So…um…where do you want to sit and who do you want to be your partner?" the teacher asked.
"I don't care," Mikan bluntly said.
"Well, you had Natsume-kun as your partner before, so…do you want to be with him again this year?"
"I told you already, I don't care."
"If that's so, then your seat is at the back."
Mikan assumed that it was the spare seat next to a black haired boy. As she walked closer, she realised it wasn't just a black-haired boy, it was the black-haired boy that she met yesterday. She immediately regretted saying that she didn't care about where she sat. Mikan tentatively sat down on the edge of her seat and tried to look as if she didn't care about the rejection last night.
Suddenly, a horrible realisation struck her. Partners normally sat together, so what if that boy was her partner!
"Teacher, who's my partner?" Mikan asked, dreading the answer.
"Natsume-kun, the boy who's sitting next to you," the teacher stated. Mikan's mouth dropped open slightly, but then immediately closed. She stared down at the table. "Is there a problem?" the teacher asked. Mikan shook her head and kept her eyes down. She was wondering why she was getting so worked up about the presence of a boy who she didn't even know.
The bell signalled that homeroom had ended. Mikan glanced at her timetable. It was time for her to go to her Abilities Class. ESP had told her about them, they were where you were sorted into different classes according to your Alice. Mikan was in the Dangerous Abilities. ESP had also told her that in the Dangerous Abilities, she would carry out missions for the school. Mikan grabbed her bag and walked to the Dangerous Abilities classroom, feeling quite self important.
She looked around, trying to spot the classroom with the sign DA above it. As she was looking for the classroom, she didn't look ahead and bumped into someone. The impact of the collision made Mikan lose her balance and fall.
"Oi, watch where you're going, stupid," someone grumbled.
"S-Sorry," Mikan stammered as she hastily stood up. She looked up and saw her partner, also known as Natsume. He scowled at her.
"Mikan?" someone called from behind. Mikan whipped around and to her surprise, she saw the ESP. Natsume glared at him.
"Oh, Natsume, why are you glaring at me like that?" ESP chuckled, finding it amusing.
"What do you want?" Natsume growled. ESP smiled. Suddenly, Mikan felt a hand grab her and pull her behind. She looked up and saw Natsume standing in front of her.
"Ahaha! Natsume, you're being so protective. I won't lay a finger on her, that is, if you keep your promise," ESP snickered.
"I will, but you'd better keep yours."
"Oh-ho, talking back now. However, we don't have time to chat because my princess is late for her Abilities class."
As ESP said that, he grabbed Mikan and pulled her away from Natsume. "Natsume, I'd like to remind you, that Mikan isn't yours any more, she is my precious doll. Now, Mikan, I'll see you in the DA class later," ESP said before walking off.